knowledgeofgoodandevil

The enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he can devour. That’s not my quote, that’s a verse in the Bible. God is warning us how the enemy works.

Don’t let your guard down for a second. We can’t afford to. God warns us not to. The problem with Christians is that we think there are some places we can let our guard down, like in church. But I want to warn you, church is definitely a place to keep your guard up.

If Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, do you think he stops at the door of the church and says, “Oops I can’t go in there.”

No, Satan views the church as his playground. I’m not trying to be Ms. Negative, I’m only stating the truth. Satan is a roaring lion. He is seeking whom he can devour and where do you think he can find a bunch of Christians with their guard down? Why church, of course.

What I’m saying, is that a Christian can’t assume everybody is a Christian in church. And even if there are a majority of Christians in church, there are still those who aren’t. And out of the ones that are, there can be many Christians not walking uprightly. So in church, you have a mixture of true Christians and non Christians. You have Satan prowling around, seeking who he can destroy. That’s a recipe for sin if I ever heard one. The believer cannot afford to let their guard down in an environment like that.

Will people sin in church? Of course they will. Don’t assume they won’t. Christians are capable of sin. Look at David. He committed adultery, then had the husband killed off. David was called “a man after God’s own heart.” All non Christians do is sin all day long. The wise Christian will view church as any other place. The wise Christian will walk carefully, everywhere. There’s no place to say, “Oh, I can let my guard down here.” And church is definitely a place not to let your guard down.

Think of lions. When they’re hungry they go looking for food. They go and find a herd of antelope. They stalk the herd, looking for the weak ones. Then, when they’ve spotted the weak ones, they go in for the kill. God tells us Satan is a roaring lion. God didn’t call him a scared antelope. No, he called him a lion, a predator, looking for his next kill. That’s what we as Christians are, his next kill. Satan hates us and wants to devour us.

God doesn’t lie or exaggerate. If God calls Satan a roaring lion, that’s exactly what he is. Not only is Satan bent on destroying the believer, but he’s had thousands of years to perfect the art of doing so. He knows what can trip you up. He knows how to bring you down. And he doesn’t give up easily. He’s a roaring lion.

So does this mean we should never go to church. NO! It just means, we need to keep our guard up, everywhere we are. Be careful how you walk, making the most of your time, as the days are evil. Just be careful out there. And don’t think for a second that church is a safe place.

A long time ago I attended a Bible camp. Our speaker that week was a pilot. He compared the Christian walk to aspects of being a pilot. One lesson he taught us really stood out in my mind. He said a pilot needs to trust their instruments. They can’t rely upon their vision. A pilot can become disorientated up in the sky. Their instruments are their life line. The instrument can tell them how level the plane is. He gave an example of a pilot who was flying upside down, who didn’t feel like he was upside down, but when he looked down at his instruments, he was clearly upside down.

What instruments do we have, as Christians. Well, God’s Word tells us whether we’re upside down in this life. His word tells us what’s really going on, even when we don’t feel like things are going the way we think they are going.

I’ve been thinking about prayer a lot lately. We, as believers, are told to pray without ceasing. We utter our prayers out loud or in our heads, and then what? Does God really hear our prayers? We can’t see God. We can’t touch Him. We can’t hear Him. We pray, but we get no response that our prayers are being heard. I’ve felt that my prayers are not being heard, a few times, in these past few months.

But that’s how I feel. What does God’s instrument (His Word) tell me about the prayers I pray?

“When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” Rev. 5:8

If you placed something into a golden bowl, would you view that something as valuable? Where do we find gold? You can find gold in expensive jewelry stores, under lock and key, guarded by cameras and security officers. Try and walk out the door with a gold something or other and find out how valuable gold is. You’d be met with alarm bells, and police officers.

Our prayers are such, that God places them into golden bowls, held by the twenty-four elders. I think that visual tells me a different story than what I am feeling at times. When I feel my prayers are going nowhere, that’s a lie. I need to rely upon God’s instrument that tells me my prayers go into golden bowls. My prayers are valuable. Your prayers are valuable. I can’t look at my circumstances and believe what is not true. I need to believe God’s inerrant word, and He tells me my prayers go into golden bowls.

So friend, when you are discouraged and feel like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling, remind yourself of the golden bowls. That’s where your prayers are going. When I did this, it changed my whole perspective. I can’t look at my circumstances and believe what is not true. I can’t be like the upside down pilot. I need to look to my instruments (God’s Word) and remind myself what is the truth. Our prayers never go willy nilly into the sky. They go into golden bowls. That’s how God feels about our prayers.

On voting day, November 2016, our car was struck by a distracted driver who t-boned the car and totaled it. I was just remembering this accident, as I was talking to an old friend this week, reliving the details. As I look back, I see God’s fingerprints all over the accident.

First of all, a neighbor, who lives in my neighborhood took it upon herself to stand on the corner, near where the accident happened, and do whatever she could. I wasn’t thinking clearly. When you’ve just come out of a car accident that totally destroys your car, you usually don’t have the wherewithall to think clearly. She was the one who yelled to me to take pictures. That thought never even crossed my mind.

I got out my cell phone, which I only carry with me half the time and it was half charged so I could take pictures. So I took pictures of everything. My car, the lady who hit us, her car. I took pictures from different angles. But this isn’t something I thought of. It was the lady, who I didn’t know, standing on the corner, telling me to do it. Those pictures were key is showing clearly, we were not at fault. If we didn’t have those pictures, who knows what would have happened. It would be her word against mine. But the pictures were solid evidence that we had been struck. Both insurance companies requested the pictures. My testimony and the pictures convinced my insurance company that I was NOT at fault. And they convinced the other driver’s insurance company that she WAS at fault. When I confronted the woman and told asked her what was wrong with her and told her she didn’t even stop, she quickly declared, “I stopped.” Without those pictures, this would have been a major fight.

The neighbor consoled my daughter. She kept talking softly to my daughter, telling her it was going to be okay, while I talked to the police.

When we got hit, the car was two years old. If this would have happened any sooner, we would have lost money. If we had to get our car totaled, this was a good time to do it.

My daughter and I both received seven hundred dollars each for minor injuries. That money paid for our two tickets to England, which my daughter didn’t know she would do until later that year.

God would use the accident to answer my daughter’s prayers regarding whether she should go to England. As she was considering it, she prayed to God to send her a sign. The next day, she received a settlement projection for her minor injuries. The amount, was the exact amount it would cost for her to go to England for Bible school.

We walked away from the accident with only minor injuries. The key was, we walked away. God was there, with us, when the accident happened. He was with us, right after the accident happened. He spoke through the neighbor to tell me to take pictures. There were no witnesses, which was actually a good thing. Our testimony and the pictures served as our witness. I’ve heard of other cases where witnesses aren’t great. But hard core evidence like pictures, clearly tell the story.

We were able to get a new car. We were able to pay for two tickets to England. We didn’t lose money on the car. God was with us, before the accident, during the accident and after the accident. God never leaves us or forsakes us. In the storms, He is with us. In car accidents, He is with us. Through the valleys, He is with us. Remembering the accident, was encouragement to me in this waiting time. That same God who walked us through this accident is the same God I’m waiting on now. If you’re going through something, remember. Look back and see what God has done.

I have heard people say they aren’t Christians anymore. They want to live their life any way they want and they figure Christianity just cramps their style. If I’m not a Christian, I’m not accountable anymore. There are no holds barred.

Problem with that thinking is if you aren’t a Christian, you are now accountable for EVERYTHING in your life. And I mean EVERYTHING. Every sin you ever committed will be brought forth and you will be held accountable for it all. A non saved person is going to have to account for everything they’ve ever done. And no one has any righteousness to counteract all that sin. And your final destination is terrible. You go to hell.

The beauty of the Christian life, is that God takes our sins and washes us clean, when we accept Him as our Savior. He buries them in the deepest ocean to never be discussed again.

The Christian doesn’t have to produce their own righteousness. We never have to be ashamed to go before God. We have no righteousness of our own. A Christian approaches God’s throne, not with their head held high because they are basically good. Nor, does the Christian have to be afraid to approach God’s throne because of all the bad they’ve done. No, we approach God’s throne, because we are washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our righteousness. Jesus Christ’s shed blood, washes the believer clean. The Christian approaches God’s throne, washed clean, declaring that Christ died in our place. I’m here because Jesus cleaned me.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him will be saved. John 3:16.

To those who say they are no longer Christians, I have this question for you: what will make you righteous? What good deeds will you do, to atone for your sins? We will all die. None of us knows when that will be. So we will all face God. You who think not being a Christian now gives you freedom, I’m just wondering, what will make you righteous?

Cain brought fruits and vegetables. His offering was rejected by God. Abel brought an unspotted lamb. The lamb was an example of the ultimate Lamb-Jesus Christ.

Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. Heb. 9:22

I love being a Christian. Maybe because I’m not a good rule follower. I love that Jesus paid the price and not myself. I love that I have freedom. I didn’t have to follow a bunch of rules. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. I love that my sins will not be remembered. I love that freedom.

And to those who think that denying your Christianity frees you up, the opposite is true. Think about that. Now you are held accountable for absolutely everything. That’s a really rotten place to be.

On Christmas Eve, God gave me a little lesson in who He is. It was Christmas Eve. I just got a gift for my son, because I love him. I told my son what it was, because I couldn’t wrap it. As I told him, these words flashed in my mind:

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him.” Matt. 7:11

The voice in my head was talking to me! My Father in heaven was speaking to me! The one who just gave a good gift to her son. God was reminding me, exactly in that moment, “…how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him.”

I was giving a good gift to my son and now God was telling me, “See, you give gifts to your children and you’re evil. What do you think I can do in your life?”

The verse came to life to me. I love my son. And I wanted to give him this gift. I was excited to give this gift. I wanted to show my love, by giving the gift.

In that moment, God was giving me a gift of hope, while showing me how much more He can give to those who ask, using me as an example to teach me.

And that was the perfect reminder. I know what I feel about my children. I know how it makes me feel to give them gifts that would delight them. I long to give them things that would delight them and tell them how much I love them. And God in His infinite wisdom, shows me exactly how He feels about me. Me, a mother, He says He can do so much better.

So I wait so more. I wait on God who loves me. I wait on the One, who gives good gifts greater than I give my own children. He fills me with hope and joy, though I don’t have everything right or together. He reminds me who He is and to know Him is so much greater than anything. He’s got me in His hands and I can trust Him.

In this waiting time, God continues to sustain me. He continues to give me gifts, like those words in Matthew 7:11. He continually reminds me that I am not alone, that He’s heard my prayers and He will answer me. I don’t know when and I don’t know how. But He reminded me that He is the giver of good gifts, and so much greater than evil me can give to my own children.

If you are in a waiting time with God, memorize Matthew 7:11. It will bring you encouragement and warm your soul.